3175 Royal Fare Thee Wells
Sorry! Late again.
And here’s the latest in the map drama:
The Wyldwood and the Dragonspine Mountains (including the Hidden Valley)
And the stitched up Map So Far:
Pick up your copies of YAFGC Volumes 1 - 5 at our online store. Multi-book bundles and sketch editions available.
Sorry! Late again.
And here’s the latest in the map drama:
The Wyldwood and the Dragonspine Mountains (including the Hidden Valley)
And the stitched up Map So Far:
Trevor, quick, before they’ve gone too far, call them back for some tea! And crumpets! And scones! With jelly and jams!
I think this may even be the occasion for that carefully-wrapped stash of crystallized ginger.
Priorities!
Well, if they *have* gone too far already, I think we can forgive Trevor his little lapse. After all, it’s been a busy day full of things happening.
Scones with jam and clotted cream are what are required
Gotta love and admire a Winnaloohoo-hoo that has his priorities in order!
Wait’ll he realises he’s BECOME history!
t!
Downside, thats just one place yu may have won, they can return at anytime
Greyfort. Thanks to the ghosts, Lucas got it back too. That makes 2 places. Unless, of course there are more that Rich didn’t show us yet.
5th panel, should be “the” instead of “he”
Yes dear. Thank you.
Advance to victory! And a hot bath afterwards. (I miss Yamara.)
The map is looking good! Watersheds are odd, but I usually rationalize that sort of thing as draining into the Underdark. Perhaps someday Captain Fang and crew will be found sailing the Sunless Sea, completely unable to explain how the hell they got there? 😀
As it is, the only thing that really bothers me is the way Stranglake drains both over the cliff -and- into the ocean — I may be wrong, but as far as I know lakes and rivers don’t normally split going downstream. But maybe a wizard did it.
Hmm. But take note of how Orcwash is either a sump or has an outlet that dries out.
Could it be that the cliffs edge is of very hard rock, and the outlet from Strange Lake (these days shortened to Stranglake) is limited in capacity? So it’s only a waterfall into Orcwash during the rainy season (or spring melt) and the rest of the time the waterfall lives up to its old name of Dead Fall?
Ohhhh interesting! I like that!! (Btw- Stranglake is a merge of Strangle Lake. It’s pronounced "STRANG-gull-ake")
This makes a lot of sense. A very unusual bit of topography, but such a wonderful anomaly. It could potentially be one of the natural wonders of the world. I mean, there is a LOT of potential competition, but it would be an exceptional landform, possibly even unique.
Other interesting factor that comes immediately to mind: during the winter, Death Falls would be layered with snow and ice. As the spring thaw arrives, the ice dams would give way and all the meltwater from the winter plus the spring rains would flood Stranglake, thus feeding Death Falls for weeks and probably a couple months. As summer progresses, the Falls dry up, maybe occasionally get regenerated during particularly heavy storms. Going back into winter again, snow & ice build up dams and keep the Falls mostly dry, maybe just some trickles that coat the cliffs with ice, until spring again.
Not only spectacular, but hideously dangerous for the adventurous types not prepared. Sort of like trying to traverse a glacier falling over a cliff. Because the cliffs face south, daily sunlight would melt parts while it refreezes at night and during the coldest days. "Treacherous" wold not be descriptive enough for that patch of terrain. Flying over it would be close to the only option.
Makes me wonder what sort of unexplored caves or other treasures are hidden there.
Holy crap you guys, this is beautiful! I’m only one man and not educated in this kind of geography. I need you to write a Guide book to YAFGC’s world!
Hahahahah! I didn’t notice that. Man… building a world is HARD. Thanks for the info! 🙂
It sort of gives one an idea of what it was like for God to create *this* world, doesn’t it? Which leads one to a greater appreciation of the universe that surrounds us & allows us to continue existing.
In retrospect, a world-building DM has it easy…
God got lazy and instead of doing it manually he set up few rules for automatic generating and let it run by itself. Same as with evolution, too lazy to develop all animals manually.
It’s the same as in games – like, some games have manually created map, but many have automatic random generation.
But without having the basic "rules of the game system" already in place, even world-building isn’t possible unless it allows for some random-chance events & occurences.
More than anything, it’s a matter of balancing the interaction between Order & Chaos is what makes a world or a universe. Without at least *some* influence from Chaos, pure Order can only result in absolute stagnation…Everything IS, but nothing at all can ever happen.
😉
You can see Captain Fang’s ship in the lower right of the map. Man, that thing has grown. If that is to scale, Fang’s ship is bigger than any modern aircraft carrier or container ship.
if it’s grown that much in ten or so years in another 50 we’ll have a coninent ship
May all of the gods help us! Capt. Fang is taking over the world! Eventually he will conquer the whole of the uni/multi-verse!
Wait, Stranglake drains into Orcwash? I thought it would be the other way around, as Stranglake drains into the sea.
This has been a blast 🙂 Thank you for making this series for us, each chapter has been a joy!
I realize that another story about C’rhynne & Leland & Trevor is unlikely. But, I certainly hope they make couple of random cameos on occasion. They certainly have the skillset to be valuable consultants on adventures to come. I miss them already.
Does it count as a spoiler to tell you that they’re a hell of a lot of fun to write AND to draw?
I think your love for these characters came through fairly clearly in this storyline. I’ll take that as a "Farewell, we will meet again some day." There are so many other wonderful characters wandering around this world, it’s difficult to imagine which ones I want most to also meet these goofs. Their successful resistance against Ranna seems to indicate they will have more to offer in her eventual downfall, some way or another.
I agree, there are some candidates, that could make interesting situations, but the first to come to my mind would be Adina. Trevor might just be the person who would know how to turn her dad back into a human. Provided the Rannites didn’t cut the tree out already…
If you can get the occasion to bring Trevor back in at some point (even if it’s exremely rare), I for one welcome it. Considering that you would need to get Justin Carpenter’s permission to do so, Trevor should be reserved for only the most epic of questlines, even if only as a short cameo appearance…Even a short appearance by Trevor may holds worlds’ worth of impact on a story.
Whether Rich sees fit to revisit these three in the future or not, let me simply put here, on the record, publicly, that he is always welcome to do so.
Trent Reznor tells the story of hearing the late Johnny Cash cover "Hurt," and thinking quietly to himself, "It’s his song now. It’s not my song. I brought it into the world, yes, but this is what it became, when it grew up." I can do little but applaud, dab tears, and marvel at what comes from Rich’s imagination…and be grateful I had the opportunity to co-create with him.
I obviously can’t offer any thoughts about these three in the future of YAFGC, save to say that they are in more capable hands than my own, and inasmuch as my blessing is needed, it stands granted, and furthermore, granted as a blank check.
Rich is amazing. I am honored to have been a footnote on the monolithic accomplishment that is YAFGC, and basically any time he wants to "story jam" with me, the answer will be "absolutely!"
Such a poetic way of describing your willingness to share your own visions & see what happens; You’re a far better sordsmith than I could even pretend to be.
I, for one, appreciate it & salute you.
Arrrgh!
*wordsmith
…Then again, I suppose that just proved my own point…
It has been a delight and pleasure to read this story with C’rhynne, Trevor, and Leland, and I also hope we’ll see them again in the near future.
I love Glon’s teeth. We don’t see them often, not side-on anyway, and very rarely when he’s happy. But in Panel Two, they’re awesome, because they remind us that this earnest, humble, loving gratitude is being offered by an ‘evil’ ‘monster’.
t!
Throwing a bit more science at the map, consider that the big hole where the Black Mountain used to be is going to change in short order.
First, understand that whatever smashed the mountain out of existence wold have shattered and fractured all the major rock beds under and around for a good distance. The major fractures (including tunnel collapses) would extend for at least a mile, in some cases maybe three or so.
With that understanding, a lot of mineral resources have now been exposed, while at the same time being buried in rock that is very dangerous to tunnel through. On the one hand, gold and gems and minerals can be found on & near the surface. But, digging means well-engineered tunnels to make them stable.
However, water will now collect. This will become a crater lake. The question is how deep it will get before it stabilizes. The heavily fractured rock will let a lot of water seep into the ground, for decades to come, until all the space finally fills with water, then the lake levels will finally rise to an equilibrium.
Water will come in the form of snowmelt and rain runoff from the surrounding mountains. This would be ‘sort of’ slow, meaning maybe several decades of rising water, maybe even most of the first decade with no lake as all the shattered rock strata absorbs the first water like a sponge. Surrounding tunnels will flood, and become new underwater/underground ecologies.
But a very interesting caveat has to be considered. The location right next to the sea. Right at Sirensong, the sea may break through directly into the new hole and flood it with sea water. It might seep through fractures at first, but erode them and then break through, at which point a fairly catastrophic flood event will take place that would probably fill the crater in a few days (or even a single day). The crater lake would then be a small inland sea with a fairly narrow channel through the mountains to the larger sea.
This sea would rapidly flood all the fractured rock below & around the crater, with salt water. There would be settling and collapses of surrounding land as water softened everything, like flooding a sand castle. Over time, perhaps a thousand years or so, there would be very little water circulation, so fresh water coming into the crater lake would gradually dilute the seawater, always flowing out to sea with sea water almost never entering. It would never be a freshwater lake, but it would become brackish, and a very unique ecology.
Some interesting water-based civilizations (Sirens, Mermaids, Water Elves, etc.) may end up inhabiting this lake.
Given how close the crater edge is to the sea, my speculation is that it is already beginning to flood with seawater. Maybe slowly right now as it seeps through the fractured rock. However, within a year or perhaps two at the most, it will break a channel through and finish the flooding in a catastrophic event. Make decisions now just how much of the crater is below sea level and how deep it will be.
Also, if there is any volcanic or other geothermal activity at that location, that will greatly affect the ecology. There might be hot springs, the entire lake may be several degrees warmer than the sea, possibly geysers or underwater thermal vents.
Woahhh…. awesome! And you know, I hadn’t put any thought into local volcanic activity…. I think I know what I’m going to do on the Lanly side of the border in future maps and stories.
Thank you thank you thank you Mr. 3XP4T "Source-of-fascinating-new-angles!!"
I’ve got an idea that could rip the continent in half…. AGAIN… for a future epic story.
My consulting services will always be available, and I will endeavor always to be as accurate as I can be. World-building is something of a hobby of mine that goes decades back to my RPG days. Fortunately, in this world, small mistakes of science can be papered over with retcons of "Well … magic."
Continent-splitting volcanism and tectonics should not be approached lightly. I guess I’ll finally have to sign up for your forum and participate in some dedicated discussion threads. I’ll be using a different name there, my old 3Xp4t identity is an obsolete legacy that I don’t use anymore, except on a few sites where I started using it many years ago. I’ll find some time this weekend to drop by, sign up and familiarize myself with the community.
Thank you for sharing that. 🙂
I clearly stabilized as we saw the archaeologists talking about their dig a thousand years from "now". Hmm, it did not look that flooded at the time, but maybe this was reclaimed land?
Archeological digs take place on accessible land. Think in terms of all the archeology that takes place around the Mediterranean Sea in our world … and how very little we know about whats underwater there. Only in the last 50 years of all of human history are we finally accessing underwater sites, and we’re finding entire cities of which there are virtually no records. Because we saw some folks digging on land doesn’t mean an inland sea wasn’t just off-panel, and that hey haven’t yet figured out how that sea came into being and what used to be there.
The Black Mountain never had anything valuable enough to mine for, though, or the Keeper might still be there.
When you smash an entire mountain into rubble, resources will get exposed. Maybe the Black Mountain was not particularly rich, as in having large gold and silver mines. But, iron and copper ore, many other interesting ores and minerals, pockets of precious and semi-precious stones exist in all mountains just by their very nature. Exploration of the debris piled up all around the crater will yield profit for those brave enough to do it. Dangerous and difficult work, yes. But, for decades there will be valuable natural resources to find and mine. With magic use, it can be done more efficiently and with greater safety than if we had to do it in our mundane world.
And how many times have archaeologists said something along the lines of: "Oh wait… we always thought the famously ancient town was located here when it was actually about three km to the EAST of that… right about where that giant reservoire is sitting now."
Okay, gotta ask now: Just what is the correct way to pronounce C’rhynne? I kinda always read it like Zy-rinn in my head, but now I’m wondering if maybe it’s more like Crin? Or something else entirely?
I’m told that it’s pronounced like Serene.
Correct. ?
Glon Bloodhand arrived in Tempul under the name of a legend…he leaves under his own name [i]as[/i] a legend–having carved a bloody swath through his foes, driven his enemies before him, and hearing the lamentations of the women…
Your mother will be so proud of you! As for me, I’m dicing onions right now. Yes. 😀
One thing I’ve been wondering about: what’s stopping Ranna from just blowing up the newly-liberated city like she did Black Mountain?
Mwah haw haw haw hawww! 😀
My guess is: The world’s magic is already starting to decline (as told by the future archeologists), possibly due to Ranna using too much (as hinted by the gorgons who stoned Lucas and Cadugan), and Ranna realizes she can no longer waste resources on such huge cataclysms.
Interesting that most of the coastline is quite mountainous — it looks like the Goblin Lands have considerably more access to the ocean than poor Elegrost, bottlenecked to just Costal.
Glon has really come into his own now. He’s most definitely a KING now. A far cry from how he’s behaved in the past.
This is going to be good. 🙂
Thanks again for the maps! It gives a lot to the stories to know how the locations are connceted to each other, especially when more things happen at the same time. I hope one day you will manage to add Drostardy, the Uagi Desert and the Nortehrn Regions as well! No hurries though, I can wait ;).
There is one more place I would like to know where to find: the Curtain of Abynn. Is it somewhere on this region, or on a land not added to this map yet?
The Curtain of Abynn lies at the southern point of the norther continent of Falania (this continent here, in fact). What you can see so far is the Eastern coast from the top of the Goblin Lands down to the bottom crest of the Dragon Spine Mountains. Southwest of here lies the Uagi region, then further South is the Saugren Vell which borders with Shallmar. When I get to that point you’ll be able to see the Curtain of Abynn… though currently there is no Curtain of Abynn, it’s the location of Ranna’s great Ruun City which rose back up out of the depths.
Wait, wasn’t Uagi east of Elegrost, over the sea? I remember an arrow pointing that way ever since the first, pre-Karakia maps.
It wouldn’t have made much sense for Lewie’s first expedition to sail the open seas if they were better off hugging the coast.
While on the topic of the sea, it would be nice to include some areas of sea control. We know both the Black Mountain and Elegrost had an armada, along with Drostardy. Then there was the Hobgoblin port authority, the vikings and maybe some pirate haunts.
The first map I drew that appears in Volume 1 and used to be on the old website was quite different to these in detail, but not in overall BASIC layout. The arrow to Uagi pointed sort of diagonally and down to the right, but North was also not at the top of the page. The desert has always been south of them on the same continent, but quickest to reach by ship, since there are several huge mountain ranges between it and Elegrost.
Turg and the gang did travel within sight of the coast -though I didn’t draw it in much. Back in those days I avoided drawing background details as much as possible.
You’re right about the sea control areas. On the map you can see Port Kragg (Hobgoblin Port Authority) up by the Black Mountain, and Costal-by-the-Sea, Elegrost’s large port city. In the Uagi region that doesn’t appear on the map yet is Merriah. Most of the Eastern coast of Northern Falania is mountian ranges or thick forest so they haven’t been able to make a lot of coastal settlements. One presumes that there might be lots of pirate haunts along the edges that aren’t mapped officially (and that I haven’t established firmly enough to include at this point).
Thank you very much! 🙂
The captain should have a glass of water. He’s looking quite dehydrated.
Whee, maps!
And a good story arc! Although the point where Harek died almost got me to stop reading.
I’m glad you stuck with it. I can’t bring myself to pull some of the punches if it fits the way of this world. And it’s important that sometimes terrible things happen.
Thank you for the maps!
I like how the contours of the Black Mountain can be interpreted in two ways. Increasing in height (pre-explosion) or decreasing in height (post-explosion).
While I’m not a hard science fiction reader usually, i love the worlds and plots that are built with science behind it- it makes my connection with it stronger, partly because i know the creator cared enough to consider those aspects, partly because there is a better chance for suspension of belief when little details are skewed. This world already felt thought out, and seeing that geology will be affecting future storylines just reinforces my connection. (not to mention it is really cool to learn stuff like this- i always loved earth science and could see how much it affects our lives!) So i wanted to say thank you to all involved in this discussion of map-making 🙂
an author i thoroughly enjoy btw is dave duncan- who was a geologist for 33 years before writing mostly fantasy, but some sci fi- and each fantasy world has its own systems of magic or rules, or whatever, and i highly recommend his work 🙂